Word: hollywoodizations
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...back and soak up the Southern sun (which Eastwood manages to capture quite beautifully), then steadily tune out everything Cusack says and does. What will emerge is the real spirit of Berendt's Savannah, simultaneously anarchic and genteel--a cocktail potent enough to survive even the worst ravages of Hollywood hackery...
Richard Gere takes Hollywood's latest shot at China--this time targeting its system of criminal justice (or lack thereof). Solid courtroom drama, good paranoia buildup and a fine performance by Bai Ling as Gere's lawyer are ultimately let down by a muddled ending...
...gorgeous, half-successful epic gives much-needed public visibility to the tragic modern history of Tibet, but opts for glossy formulaic packaging over genuine emotional resonance, even in the central relationship between Brad Pitt's Austrian mountaineer and the young Dalai Lama. Pitt is ludicrously out of place--a Hollywood heartthrob trying to look spiritual and attempting a dreadful accent. The film actually becomes more dramatically compelling as his character fades in prominence, though it's amusing to watch his narcissism get deflated...
...emotional kernel of a story becomes the central, guiding principle, then historical veracity and the nuanced entirety of the story become disposable. This is unfortunate, as a true historical tale, with all its complexity and contradictions can be much more human, real and moving than a slick, cookie-cut Hollywood production...
...course, very easy to bash large multi-million dollar Hollywood studio productions for abusing both history and art. The discrepancy between artistic representation and historical veracity is not new, however. Is there any essential difference between a Shakespeare play involving historical figures, such as Julius Caesar or Henry V, and a Disney or Fox production like Pocahontas or Anastasia...